The ELECTRONIC KUMOKO cloudchild compilation was conceptualized and created by the duo and was just released in January of this year. It is a sequel to the KUMOKO Vol. 1 compilation released in 2016 and the new compilation features 21 artists from the US and Japan. In Part 1 of the article, TOKION interviewed them about their experiences in Tokyo and moving to the US, as well as the background of the compilation. In Part 2, they shared their experiences of working with the artists on the album such as Carlos Niño, Sam Prekop, Mioko Yamaguchi, Hideki Matsutake, and Tentenko.

Working with Japanese artists Mioko Yamaguchi, Hideki Matsutake, Takashi Kokubo, and TENTENKO

――We’d like to ask you about the artists and songs on the compilation. On the intro and outro tracks, your duo SunEye worked with IMA, a four-year-old artist from Brooklyn. Can you tell us about IMA and how these tracks were produced?

Akiko: IMA is Hashim’s nephew, and the son of YOKUBARI (Hisham Akira Bharoocha) who is also on this compilation. When IMA sang on these tracks, he was still three years old, and we are so delighted that we were able to capture his cute voice on “Kumo Daisuki” and “Kumoko Outro.” On the intro and outro tracks of KUMOKO Vol. 1, you can hear the voice of Ynez, who is the daughter of Jesse Peterson of Turn On The Sunlight and Mia Doi Todd. Our concept is to always use children’s voices on the KUMOKO cloudchild series, in order to remind people of their inner child and to not forget their childlike curiosity.

Hashim: On the intro and outro tracks that feature IMA, we created the tracks using a modular synthesizer. At the height of the pandemic in LA, house plants became very popular because a lot of people were spending more time at home. For a period of time, plant shops in LA became so packed that you would have to wait in line to get in. Our house also became filled with plants during the pandemic. (Laughs) During that time, we found out about a synthesizer module that translates biofeedback data from plants into music and we used it on these songs. You can program the module so that the biofeedback data from the plant is actually playing the melodies. So, the ethereal melodies on these two tracks are actually being played by a snake plant. These two tracks are a collaboration between humans, plants, and machines.

――The compilation features tracks by Mioko Yamaguchi, Hideki Matsutake, and Takashi Kokubo. What is your impression of their past releases and the attention that Japanese synthesizer music and ambient music is receiving around the world?

Hashim: When we both started DJing as SunEye, we were playing tracks from artists like YMO, Mioko Yamaguchi, Hideki Matsutake, so that led us to interviewing those incredible artists on our SunEye Radio show which was extremely inspiring for us. Around the same time, City Pop became popular around the world through YouTube, which was probably a portal for people getting interested in environmental music, ambient and jazz from Japan.

Kankyo Ongaku like the “Ion Series” that Takashi Kokubo released in the 90s and albums by Hiroshi Yoshimura have millions of views on YouTube, and I know a lot of LA artists that have been influenced by this music. What makes Japanese ambient special is the way Japanese composers infuse nature into the music, and their egoless and elegant playing. Ambient pop is very popular in the LA scene, but if you think about it, Mioko Yamaguchi was already making music like that on her album Tsukihime decades ago, which is maybe why that kind of music is gaining attention again lately.

――TENTENKO started out as a pop idol but is now making experimental music in the underground scene and released an EP on the TAL label from Germany in March of last year. What do you think of her as an artist and what was your reaction when you heard her track for the compilation?

Akiko: I had no idea that TENTENKO used to be a member of Bis, but when I saw her music video for “Goodbye, Good Girl,” I thought she was a new City Pop artist, and I was really moved by the music, visuals, and her lyrics. I would often mix in “Goodbye, Good Girl” with vintage City Pop on Dublab and at events, and girls would dance, and we would always get a great response. After that, I discovered TENTENKO’s more experimental music, and I really relate to her sensibilities and the outsider aspect of her music. I loved her music even more after finding out about that side of her. When I first heard the track she made for the ELECTRONIC KUMOKO cloudchild compilation, it sounded like KUMOKO had jumped out of a tornado and was running around in some dark clouds. TENTENKO is singing on the track, and her voice sounds like it could be KUMOKO’s voice which I love. TENTENKO isn’t just about being kawaii, her music is extremely innovative and edgy.

Hashim: I’ve known Kazumi Namba from way back, and I was surprised to find out that he became a well-known writer who focuses on idol culture after I moved to the States. He gave me TENTENKO’s contact info which is why we were able to have her on the compilation. Listening to her music reminds me of the experimental and noise music I heard in my formative years in Japan, and I feel that she’s infusing a breath of fresh air into that culture. So, there’s a sense of nostalgia when I listen to her music but it’s also very refreshing at the same time.

Artists representing the LA scene such as Carlos Niño and Jamael Dean

――Carlos Niño is a producer, artist, DJ and event organizer that traverses all genres including hip-hop, jazz, and electronic music, and truly represents the current LA scene. What do you think of him as an artist?

Hashim: Carlos has been a well-known DJ in LA on Dublab and other radio stations for many years, and I’ve always loved his genre-defying DJ sets. He’s also been producing LA jazz musicians for a long time, and founded the group Build An Ark. He was also one of the first people in LA to really play a lot of New Age and ambient music, so he’s also a pioneer in that sense. He’s now an in-demand percussionist and has been performing with younger artists such as Jamael Dean, as well as Nate Mercereau, and LA veterans such as Pan African People’s Arkestra. So, we’ve seen his growth as a musician as well.

He submitted a beautiful track for the compilation that features Jamael Dean who is a pianist and rising star in the LA jazz scene, as well as Nate Mercereau who has produced hits for the likes of Jay-Z and Lizzo.

Akiko: Carlos asked me to record spoken word on the track “Trance Elation of Transformance” from his album Aquariussssss, and I’ve also taken photographs of him for various magazines. So, he’s a dear friend of ours. He’s very charismatic as an artist and person, and he’s so full of love and peace. Even if we don’t get to see him regularly, we always feel a connection to him.

――Jira >< who is on the compilation, recently released a new album under his real name, Jamael Dean, which shows both his talents as a beatmaker and jazz artist. What are your thoughts on his contributions to the LA music scene and what makes him so special?

Akiko: Several years back, we went to see Carlos Niño perform at a small gallery in Hollywood. Jamael was playing in Carlos’s group at that show. I think that Jamael was still around 20 at the time, but we could tell that he was super talented. He studied jazz at the New School in New York which is a prestigious jazz school, and he’s an extremely gifted piano player, but as Jira >< he’s also a talented beatmaker, plus he’s also a great rapper, so he’s truly a renaissance man. The track he created for the compilation exceeded our expectations. He not only submitted a track as Jira ><, but he’s also playing on Carlos’s track.

Hashim: I’ve interviewed Jamael several times for the liner notes of his Japanese album releases and I always get the impression that I’m talking to an 80-year-old elder rather than a young man in his twenties, because he’s so knowledgeable in a wide range of fields. He grew up in Leimert Park which is the mecca of LA jazz, and he has been playing with LA jazz veterans like the Pan Afrikan People’s Arkestra since he was young. So, he’s been fully immersed in studying jazz up to college, but he’s also heavily influenced by hip-hop and electronic music. In an interview I did with him, he said that playing piano, making beats, and rapping was all the same to him, and that “you can’t define black music.” I thought what he said was very powerful. I thought that he would make a beat for our compilation, but we were happily surprised when he sent us an ambient track.

The influence of Money Mark and the veteran artists on the music scene

――There are veteran artists from various backgrounds like Money Mark, John Tejada, and Sam Prekop on the compilation. What are your thoughts on how they have influenced the artists that have come after them?

Hashim: When Money Mark would come to Japan, I would often be his translator and I would interview him as a writer, so I’ve probably known him for about 20 years. After moving to LA, I found out his studio was very close to where I lived, and I would often see him at events or even at the grocery store. (Laughs) He’s obviously known for working with big artists like Beastie Boys and Jack Johnson, but as a solo artist, he was one of the first people to uphold the DIY home recording aesthetic, which I believe has influenced modern beatmakers and indie artists in general. He’s been collaborating with a new generation of artists like the Japanese group Atarashii Gakko!, so he’s kept his own aesthetic but he’s still creating cutting-edge music. I’ve always known him to be someone who follows his own path, and when he submitted an ambient piano tune for our compilation, he again went above and beyond our expectations. (Laughs)

Akiko: Money Mark is the type of artist that can’t be pigeonholed in any way, and he’s so fascinating as a human and musically. When Sam Prekop toured Japan, he visited our apartment in Shimokitazawa. Both he and Ray Barbee always have a Leica camera in their hands and are always taking street snaps. Sam and Ray both are involved in music, photography, and visual art, and we also work in music and visual art, so in that sense we really relate to them.

Hashim: Sam Prekop was known as the front man and guitarist for The Sea and Cake, and he has such a sweet voice and unique style of playing the guitar. I used to work on coordinating their tours in Japan, so I’ve known him for a long time. After that, Sam became well known as a solo electronic artist who uses modular synthesizers, so we thought he would be perfect for this compilation. I hadn’t contacted him in a long time, but I hit him up and he gladly accepted our offer. The track he created for our compilation combines his unique melodic sensibilities with modular synthesizers.

Akiko: We first met John Tejada before we moved to the US, so we’ve known him for a long time. His mother helped us a bit when we moved to the US. He also teaches in college, and when we interviewed him at his house, he taught us a lot about modular synthesizers.

Hashim: We became friends with John when he performed in Japan. He’s well known as a techno artist, but back in the day he helped produce the group Atban Klann which was a group that will.i.am used to be in, so he was involved in the early LA hip-hop scene. His music encompasses elements from all types of electronic music including hip-hop, techno, and house. The track he submitted for the compilation has techno orientated phrasing but there are no beats in it, and it really fit the ELECTRONIC KUMOKO cloudchild story.

――Who are some other artists on the compilation that we should know about?

Akiko: We’ve been fans of BOY DUDE since he released the Cassette for You album and played out his tracks a lot when we DJ. We thought that he would really expand the world of KUMOKO if we asked him to be on the compilation, and he came back with an 80s style funk track which was super amazing.

Hashim: r beny is an ambient artist from Northern California who uses modular synthesizers, and you can tell that his track is inspired by nature. It’s such a sublime track and listening to it makes you feel like your brain is melting. Ray Barbee is known more as a guitar player, but we were happy to be able to show his electronic side on this compilation. Jeremiah Chiu is part of the LA modular synth scene, and my brother YOKUBARI sent us a ravey track which was a happy surprise. Rob Mazurek is known as a trumpet player, but he sent us a noise-based track which is also reminiscent of his abstract paintings. Lucky Dragons is a group known for combining visual art with music and their track really reflects that aesthetic. Eishi Segawa and Yumi Iwaki are established Japanese TV and film composers, but they used to live in LA and are also great modular synthesizer artists. Matthewdavid who runs Leaving Records and percussionist Brin collaborated on an amazing ambient track together. Matthewdavid has been putting on all-genre outdoor events, which really represent the direction that LA is going in right now.

Akiko: XL Middleton represents the LA modern funk scene. When he performs live, he uses a keytar so there’s an 80s vibe to his style but he’s also very original. He’s also very knowledgeable about Japanese City Pop, and he has a record store in Chinatown called Salt Box Records. The track he made for the compilation also has a City Pop vibe to it and it’s so cool. We’re hoping to collaborate with him some more. The Turn On The Sunlight track feature a Brazilian singer named Thalma and Yohei Shikano, and it sounds like a Showa-style anime song, and it’ll make kids dance for sure.

For the SunEye track we used Auto-Tune, which is a very popular effect used in hip-hop, but we decided it to use it to give my voice an other-worldly feel to it. I sang the lyrics both in Japanese and English. The KUMOKO character and Auto-Tune might seem like an unlikely match up, but when we experimented with Auto-Tune I had a lot of fun with it, and we were able to write a love song to KUMOKO.

The LA scene and future plans

――Both of you are involved in the electronic and alternative scenes in Japan and the US in various ways. What are the differences between the scenes in the US and Japan, and what are some interesting developments that you have noticed?

Akiko: The indie electronic scene in LA might be small, and artists perform in various types of places likes galleries, parks, and the vibe is very relaxed, which is very characteristic of LA.

Hashim: I think that the artists in LA are very supportive of each other, and we were able to create this compilation because of that. Artists from different scenes are always collaborating with each other and that chemistry produces interesting results. The Japanese music scene takes inspiration from overseas music, but they create something new out of that. That’s also true of genres like City Pop and Kankyo Ongaku, and now these genres are influencing artists outside of Japan.

――How was COVID changed the LA music scene and the work that you do? What are your thoughts on the current situation and where do think things are headed?

Akiko: During the pandemic, this was probably true anywhere around the world, but in LA a lot of events got canceled, so people were spending more time at home. But that situation helped us to focus on creating ELECTRONIC KUMOKO cloudchild. I instinctually felt that KUMOKO would be important in times like these. The sky and the clouds connect the world together. One of the messages that I’m trying to communicate through this compilation is that we can connect through music no matter what country or culture you come from. It is said that we are now in the Age of the Wind, and I believe that KUMOKO has returned on a fresh gust of wind.

――What are your upcoming plans and what are you looking forward to?

Akiko: We are moving at a slow pace, but we want to continue with the KUMOKO cloudchild project. Clouds continuously change their shape, so KUMOKO should be returning in a new form in the next few years. It’s not a project we’re doing with profit as the priority, and it’s purely to pursue creativity. So, we will continue with the project while not forgetting our inner child and having fun with it.

Hashim: We’re hoping to focus on making more music as SunEye and expanding on Plant Bass.

Hashim Bharoocha, Akiko Bharoocha
Hashim and Akiko Bharoocha run the Plant Bass Records label, organize events, DJ, and produce music as SunEye, while also working as a writer/translator and photographer/visual artist respectively. They have interviewed artists such as YMO, Akiko Yano, and Taeko Ohnuki on their SunEye Radio show on dublab.com.
Kumoko Cloudchild Twitter：@kumokosays
SunEye Twitter：@suneyemusic
Plant Bass Records Twitter：@Plant_Bass

The post LA-based artist couple Hashim & Akiko Bharoocha bridge the electronic/alternative music scenes in the US and Japan (Part 2) appeared first on TOKION - Cutting edge culture and fashion information.

The ELECTRONIC KUMOKO cloudchild compilation was conceptualized and created by the duo and was just released in January of this year. It is a sequel to the KUMOKO Vol. 1 compilation released in 2016 and the new compilation features 21 artists from the US and Japan. As SunEye, they created an imaginary character called “KUMOKO,” and asked a star-studded cast of artists such as Carlos Niño, Sam Prekop, and Money Mark from the US, as well as Mioko Yamaguchi & Hideki Matsutake, Takashi Kokubo, and Tentenko from Japan to compose music inspired by the character. We interviewed them about the compilation, which is an intersection of the electronic and alternative music scenes in the US and Japan. The article will be published in two parts, and in Part 1 of the interview, they talked about their involvement in the Japanese magazine FADER, their work in Japan, and their move to the US, as well as the background of this compilation.

The Tokyo music scene from the late 90s to the early 2000s and making the move to LA

— What are your memories of living in Japan and why did you both decide to move to LA?

Hashim Bharoocha (Hashim): After graduating from college, I joined HEADZ (A collective and music label founded in 1995 by journalist Atsushi Sasaki), where I worked as a writer and translator for FADER magazine (A cutting-edge music and culture magazine that published 11 issues between 1997 and 2005). I was also involved in bringing artists from the US and Europe to Japan for tours during that time. The scene around HEADZ and the underground music scene in Tokyo in general from the 90s to the 2000s was extremely eclectic even compared to other scenes around the world, and it was an environment where we were into everything from experimental music, hip-hop, post rock, free jazz, ambient, and noise all at the same time. My genre-less approach to music came from being brought up in that scene for sure, and it influenced my approach to DJing and music production.

During that time, I was interviewing artists from Chicago, Berlin, and LA, and worked as a tour manager on their tours in Japan, and those connections later really helped me as a writer, promoter, and our label after moving to LA. While I was living in Tokyo, I got to know the people from the LA-based internet radio station Dublab and the people from labels like Stones Throw, so I felt that if I moved to LA, I could expand my work as a journalist, DJ, and in other business ventures, which is why we decided to make the move. I had lived in California up to my teen years, so it was an easy decision to make.

Akiko Bharoocha (Akiko): Before moving to LA, we lived in the Shimokitazawa area of Tokyo. I was already working as a freelance photographer back then, and I felt that moving to LA would help me to expand my work and relationships, so we thought it would be a great opportunity and made the move to the US in 2007.

After living in LA, I realized that there is a lot of freedom to express yourself here. In Japan, there is a tendency to express yourself within the limits of certain boundaries, but after moving here, I realized that I don’t have to limit myself in my expression. Obviously, there are a lot of things like the racism and gun violence in the US which I don’t agree with, but the fact that there is a lot of freedom for expression is something that makes it comfortable for me to be here.

— Please tell us the background of how you started the Plant Bass Records label.

Hashim: When we moved to LA in 2007, the LOW END THEORY club just started, and it was just before artists like Flying Lotus and the whole beat scene blew up. I became friends with a lot of artists in the scene, and I started organizing the LOW END THEORY Japan tours. The LA beat scene became very influential around the world, but after the LOW END THEORY club ended in 2018, I felt that people’s attentions shifted in LA from beat music to jazz, ambient, and New Age music. After the pandemic hit, since it was difficult to have indoor club events, a lot more outdoor events in places like parks started to pop up.

We’ve always loved the outdoors and nature, so we started shifting more towards reflecting natural elements in our music and label. When we started Plant Bass Records, we realized that we have a lot of friends making incredible experimental and improvised music, which made us want to release it. We’ve been friends with Carlos Niño for a long time, and he’s key figure in the LA jazz, improvised music, New Age, and ambient scenes. We released his Espacio Especial project with Farmer Dave in 2017.

カルロス・ニーニョ＆ファーマー・デイヴ『Espacio Especial』

Jesse Peterson has a project called Turn On The Sunlight with Carlos Niño and we traveled to Japan with them when they toured over there. We released their Warm Waves album, and it’s also another record that is heavily influenced by nature. The concept of our label is to release music made by our friends that we want to hear, and to take our time with the releases.

ターン・オン・ザ・サンライト『Warm Waves』

— Why did you start the SunEye project?

Akiko: We started SunEye in 2015 before we launched Plant Bass, and it was inspired by our love of nature and our experiences from our travels. At the time, we traveled to places like Monument Valley, Mt. Shasta, Sedona, Hawaii, and Joshua Tree, and the epic natural environments and scenery we experienced in those places inspired us to start SunEye. We wanted to translate those experiences and the sounds of nature into music, so we used a lot of field recordings from our journeys. I personally get more inspiration from nature than from people. When people think of LA, the beaches usually come to mind first, but after living here, I realized that we could drive a short distance and visit amazing deserts and forests that people might not know about.

 While living in the US, we became more conscious about our health, the environment, and about animal rights, so we’ve been vegan for about 10 years. “Plant based” is another way to say “vegan,” and “Plant” symbolizes “nature” in our label name, while “Bass” is the low end in music, so we thought Plant Bass is a great representation of what we want to release musically.

Hashim: When I started DJing in LA, I was already mixing in Japanese rare groove and City Pop with rare groove from the US and other countries. That led us to reaching out to the Japanese artists we were playing in our DJ sets such as Ryuichi Sakamoto, Haruomi Hosono, Yukihiro Takashi from YMO, Hideki Matsutake, Mioko Yamaguchi, Taeko Ohnuki, folk musician Sachiko Kanenobu, and interviewing them on our SunEye radio show on Dublab. We wanted to expose this great music from Japan to worldwide listeners. The artists we got to meet through our radio program definitely influenced the direction of our compilation.

How the KUMOKO character and compilation came about

—The new ELECTRONIC KUMOKO cloudchild compilation is the sequel to the first KUMOKO compilation that was released in 2016. Can you tell us about the concept that is at the foundation and why you decided to create a sequel?

Hashim: When we visited Maui in 2011, we were blown away by the beautiful clouds we saw on the plane over the islands, and for some reason I said, “Wouldn’t it be cool if there was a character called KUMOKO that lived in the clouds?” I started writing some ideas about the character on an airsickness bag I found. I actually don’t remember much about what I said that day, but luckily Akiko had kept the airsickness bag with my notes on them. (Laughs)

Akiko: I brought home that airsickness bag, and we started discussing ideas to develop the KUMOKO character. It was a process of trial and error, but I used color pencils and started drawing KUMOKO. We started developing a world based on the character, where KUMOKO was born from a big eye in the sky, that she was an artist who created art using clouds and paints the sky in vibrant colors. This story doesn’t have an ending and we’re still continuing to develop it.

Hashim: We first talked about writing a picture book, but since we have so many friends that are musicians, we thought it would be interesting to have our friends interpret the KUMOKO character and create music using that as a theme.

Akiko: Right around the time we launched the KUMOKO cloudchild project, there was a 40th anniversary Hello Kitty event in LA. I worked up the courage to go talk to Yuko Yamaguchi, who is the designer of Hello Kitty, and I told her “I’m trying to create a character called KUMOKO,” and she said, “You can do it.” Her words really motivated me to work hard on this project.

Hashim: We tried asking artists that might take an interest in the KUMOKO concept. We were surprised that a lot of artists actually took an interest in the project, and we were able to get 25 artists from LA, Japan, Berlin, and New York to participate in KUMOKO Vol. 1. We invited people like ACO, Yoshimio from Boredoms, Chocolat & Akito, Natural Calamity, glitch pioneer Oval from Germany, LA electronic music veterans Dntel and Daedelus, Carlos Niño, string player Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, and we released this compilation of 27 songs in 2016.

V.A.『KUMOKO VOL.1』

Akiko: It was our first time doing something like this, and it wasn’t easy coordinating the 25 artists, so it took us 5 years to recharge and release the next KUMOKO cloudchild project. (Laughs) During that time, we worked on our SunEye Radio shows for Dublab, and we played at our DJ events at Zebulon. Besides that, I participated in group art shows and was busy with my other work as well, so five years went by pretty quickly. While we were taking a break from the project, I was unsure if we should still continue with the KUMOKO concept. But since we gave birth to this character, in 2020, we decided that even if it’s at a slow pace, that we wanted to continue with KUMOKO.

Hashim: Around that time, there were a lot of modular synth and ambient events happening outdoors in Los Angeles in parks and by the river. There’s been a movement of DIY electronic music happening here which is experimental and difficult to categorize, and it’s a lot different than EDM and mainstream dance music. The pandemic hit shortly after that, and I think a lot of people started getting more interested in ambient and Japanese environmental music because it is very healing during these stressful times. We also got deeper into those types of music as well.

Akiko: After going to those types of events, we started to realize that we wanted the theme for KUMOKO cloudchild Vol. 2 to be electronic music, but in the broader sense of it. In 2020, we interviewed artists like Mioko Yamaguchi, who released the Tsukihime album in the 80s which has been getting worldwide attention again, as well as Hideki Matsutake, a pioneering synthesizer programmer who also worked with YMO for our SunEye Radio show. After those interviews, we started thinking how awesome it would be to have them on our compilation. We started formulating the theme for the compilation two years ago and narrowed down our selection of the 21 artists, but it took a long time to gather all the songs.

A conceptual album featuring a star-studded lineup of 21 artists from the US and Japan

—The ELECTRONIC KUMOKO cloudchild compilation features 21 artists from Japan and the US. What was your criteria and process in selecting the artists?

Akiko: Since the theme of this compilation is electronic music, we asked artists that we thought would understand the KUMOKO cloudchild concept, and who would make music that would expand on the concept. When we reached out to the artists, we told them, “Please create any kind of electronic music based on what you imagine the character and world of KUMOKO to be.”

Hashim: The artists we asked are people that we have personal relationships with, as well as artists we were purely just fans of. Some artists we met through going to their shows, or artists that we interviewed, and some are old friends. YOKUBARI is my younger brother, so we really have a wide array of artists on this record. At first, we were thinking of having the focus of the compilation to be on modular synthesizers and ambient music, but we felt the pull to feature a broader spectrum of electronic music, so we asked artists from all types of genres.

Akiko: People might be surprised by the selection of artists we have on the compilation because they are so diverse, but we asked people who we thought could expand the KUMOKO world in unexpected ways. Whenever we received tracks from the artists, we were always happily surprised by what they created, because their tracks exceeded our expectations and stirred our imagination. One thing that is unique about this compilation is that we have artists gathered here that might not usually get to work together.

 I created the artwork, and I sent the musicians my artwork so it could inspire their music. I wanted the artwork to have continuity with KUMOKO Vol. 1, but I also wanted to express the energy and waves of sound visually. I also wanted to imbue the artwork with a message of peace, where music and people transcend borders to come together, which is why I created the artwork using yarn that is used to make Misanga bracelets. The rainbow-colored sound waves coming out of the third eye were inspired by modular synth cables.

(Continued on Part 2)

Hashim Bharoocha, Akiko Bharoocha
Hashim and Akiko Bharoocha run the Plant Bass Records label, organize events, DJ, and produce music as SunEye, while also working as a writer/translator and photographer/visual artist respectively. They have interviewed artists such as YMO, Akiko Yano, and Taeko Ohnuki on their SunEye Radio show on dublab.com.

SunEye Twitter：@suneyemusic
KUMOKO Twitter：@kumokosays
Plant Bass Records Twitter：@Plant_Bass

The post LA-based artist couple Hashim & Akiko Bharoocha bridge the electronic/alternative music scenes in the US and Japan (Part 1) appeared first on TOKION - Cutting edge culture and fashion information.